I had been pushing through the brush, briars and a foot of snow for about an hour, short of breath and dumb from the cold. I couldn’t feel my face or most of my fingers in spite of the hand warmers clutched in each of my gloves. Then the baying hounds turned in my direction. Fingering my 20 gauge, I turned to face the dogs and froze. I mean that in every sense of the word.
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I ran away in February 1785 …
Thus begins the story of Nace Butler, a young man born to a bold Irish indentured servant and an African male slave.
Nace’s mother Eleanor Butler, known as Irish Nell, arrived on one of the ships of Charles Calvert, the fourth Lord Baltimore.
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The president of the United States represents people across our 50 states and leads the free world, but while in office, he lives in our neighborhood. So when a White House chef like John Moeller introduced the “fresh and local” concept, our local bounty found its way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
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Imagine walking into a bar where all the people wear T-shirts listing their age, salary range, likes and dislikes. Some walk up, look at you and walk away. Or maybe wink at you but say not a word. Welcome to the world of online dating.
I entered that world via a $5 Groupon for Match.com. What single woman in search of could resist a discount of 80 percent? Not this separated 30-something with two kids and now her very own Match account.
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“Love is about when things look like they cannot get any worse and you still manage,” says Debbie Gurley of Edgewater. For 17 years, Gurley and Mike Kinnahan have managed bad and worse with love leavened by hope and laughter.
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This week Punxsutawney Phil gave us the not-unexpected news that winter will continue for six more weeks. To help stave off the chill, Bay Weekly has compiled an array of 18 films guaranteed to fight off cabin fever.

Cardinals devouring holly berries; nuthatches scooting down sweet gums; tundra swans hooting on the Bay. Get ready to count them all during the 17th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, February 14 through 17.
Citizen scientists all over the world count birds for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in conjunction with the National Audubon Society and Bird Studies Canada. Developed over the four-day period is an annual snapshot of bird population trends.
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